This is going to be an Indiana Jones-like game, with adventure and Nazis and mysterious powers (it's probably very similar to the The Mummy films in some respects, too). I'm looking for a few players to be Haskill's team in London (see Game Description, below), a handful of these mysteriously-powered individuals. This game uses the Paragons and Golden Age supplements to Mutants and Masterminds, but none of them will be required to play this game. I'm not planning a rules-heavy game, and the differences are simple enough to teach to anyone who knows d20.

Right now, I want a name (no code names), appearance (pictures are nice but not required), personality, background (include the moment of their Breakout), powers, and a brief writing sample. All fluff right now, no stats, which is why I'm not assigning a Power Level yet. Remember, if you're playing a male character, you either need to have a reason to be exempt from military service or have a rank. Haskill would also have been looking for a nice variety in age, race, economic background, hometown, etc., so a variety in those areas would be nice.

A few notes on powers: Don't look to the books when deciding. Come up with something appropriate to the tone, time period and would be fun to play. We'll make it work. Flashy powers probably aren't a good choice (sparkles and rainbows don't really seem to fit) but I won't outlaw them. It depends on the concept.

As for how these powers manifest--it's entirely up to you. I'm using a variation of the Paragons concept of belief. How these characters believe their powers should manifest affects how they do manifest. For example, if an archaeologist believes his powers are magic spells read from an ancient scroll, then that's how it works. It doesn't matter if it actually needs to be done this way. This opens up a few more concepts to the game.

Also, don't freak out about the writing sample. I just want to make sure your posts don't go like this: "I move to bad guy and hit him with my melee attack +4 for 1d8+1 damage." And then you leave it at that. Mutants and Masterminds doesn't use d8's, but you get the idea. If you're at a loss, link a recent game post, or describe your character's actions during his or her Breakout.

I think that's it. I'll be gone tomorrow (the 19th) until 8 pm, Mountain Time, so I won't be able to answer any questions until then. So let's see what you've got.

Game Description:

In 1937, a major blackout rolled across the eastern coast of North America and the west shores of Europe. It lasted for two days. When the lights came back on, numerous people in both areas displayed strange powers. Some thought it was the work of the Devil, or maybe of aliens. No one had any answers. At the least, no one spoke of any.

Five years passed. Just as had happened in our timeline, Hitler invaded Poland and started World War Two, but now with super-powered individuals leading his armies. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the United States joined the war. Every able-bodied man with powers was conscripted into the fight, no exceptions. The women and children were left to take care of the home front.

At the University of Chicago, Professor John Haskill had founded the MERLIN Project, to study these powered individuals, funded by a grant from the US Army. Unfortunately, with most of the men gone, he was left to study the women and a few remaining men. Like everyone else during this time, he was forced to make do.

Then he received word that someone had made a discovery in post-Blitz London, a discovery that related to these powered individuals, these "Paragons" as they were called. Prof. Haskill was many things--none of them, however, was brave. So he sent some of his subjects to London in his place to investigate. What they find may very well change the world.

__________________“Each day we are becoming a creature of splendid glory or one of unthinkable horror.” ~ C.S. Lewis

Alright, I'm new to the boards, but not new to M&M and this game looks like it might be a good once to try out as my first. I've decided I want to play a female speedster. Below is all the details for the character, I put them in spoiler boxes to save room, but I can remove them if you'd prefer.

Growing up in the midwest of America most of her life, Heather was no stranger to a good bit of hard work and effort. Seeing male friends of hers being drafted into the war, Heather wanted to help fight the Nazi's as well, and started working in an airplane factory. She worked for a few months there, building and fueling planes so that they could be used in the war. Her employment came to a sharp end though, when during a fueling, the hose came loose, sending jet fuel all over her body and down he throat. As the other worker with her at the time came rushing to help her seemingly dying co-worker, after cleaning her off and getting a few drinks of water, Heather seemed fine, and asked that the other not mention this, as she didn't want to get fired from this job. The incident covered, the two went about their way. This was until a couple weeks later, during a military inspection, and for some reason, Heather suddenly began doing her work extremely quickly. Almost faster than some people could perceive. The military personnel conducting the inspection had her taken off the job, and set the redhead up with the MERLIN project to undergo testing and research. It appears that Heather's body absorbed the jet fuel as if it were food, and for some reason, was making her body move at extremely fast speeds like a jet. It was unsure whether this was a temporary or permanent ability, and so she has been entrusted to Dr. Haskill for the time being.

Like most redheads, Heather is a real spitfire, spunky, and a bit too hot under the collar sometimes. This caused her to get into a lot of fights as a kid, though she finally mellowed out a tiny bit in her later teens. A friend once said that if they could harness her energy and fire, she could probably power a small town with it. From her background comes a strong work ethic, so once Heather puts her mind to it, short of the task being impossible, she will always try her best complete it.

Simon Shiflett was a gambler that, while winning a big poker game fair and square, the other less than respectable players, very unhappy about losing a good some of money, had a little chat with him outside the saloon. This ended up with Simon getting knocked out and left out in the desert to die, the roughnecks taking back their money before they left. Coming to after a little while and already quite parched, Simon began walking around the desert, trying to find some form of civilization before he collapsed and died. As he was getting near the end of his rope, he started to hallucinate he thought, seeing a humanoid near an oasis. At this point, he figured he might as well take refuge in the illusion, he wouldn't last much longer. Simon managed to plod his way over to the pool of cool water. He collapsed inside it, passing out in the embrace of the cold liquid.

Who knows how much later, he woke up on the bank of the pond, with a dark haired woman sitting next to him. She asked what he was doing in her oasis, and he related the tale of being dropped off in the desert, not really thinking it mattered if he told a mirage. She then asked him a very important question. "Do you want to get revenge?" Simon thought about it for a moment, and replied that he would. She nodded, and said that she would give him the ability to survive her desert, and the way back to town. And with that, she turned into sand, whisping around Simon before it fused into his body, disappearing, as did the oasis. Suddenly, the gambler was no longer hungry and thirsty, and started his way back to town.

Getting back, Simon stormed back into the saloon, grabbing his trusty brass knuckles, and punched the thug that had a hold of his shotgun. The other ruffians drew, and fired at him, the bullets hitting, but just blowing off divots of sand from his body as he proceeded to grab his gun, and take out the rest of the gang. Taking his wallet back, he took out the money he had won, and left it for the bartender, to pay for the damages the gunfire had produced. He left the saloon, and soon the town, something inside him telling him to move on, as there was more evil that needed dealing with in the Wild and Weird West that he was now a part of.

Grigorii was raised Jewish in the Orthodox Society of Russia, his biological parents dying when he was a babe in Germany, and his foster parents moving to Russia after the October Revolution. During Lenin's reign they enjoyed a sense of fairness and equality, but once Stalin took hold of the country they found the need to tow the party line to simply stay alive. As Hitler flared up aggression in Germany, they understood the need to escape the strife that was sure to take hold of the continent in the coming days. Due to confrontations and safety regulations, they found the only means by which to escape was to make it to Spain and fly from there to the United States.

Making their way through the underground movement for moving Jewish people out of Germany, they spent several months hiding in attics, cellars, and even once stuffed in wooden barrels and shipped by truck. However, no one was safe. During a stay in on safe house, the owner sold out their occupation to the SS. Like most of their people, they were hauled off to the rural countryside and lined up along a ditch. As the SS prepared to fire on them, Grigorii found himself in the grip of terror as he could focus on nothing but the guns... his focus great as he prayed to God to deliver them from this terror. As the SS began to open fire... their bullets raced at the people... and stopped. In shock terror the soldiers continued to fire til their guns clicked signaling an empty clip.

Grigorii, his mind still racing with fear and prayer, prayed for God to strike the SS down. The bullets hanging in midair before the Jews shivered, and then with explosive force shot forward and struck the soldiers down. Knowing the rumors and happenings with superhuman people, despite Grigoriis claim it was God and not him, his parents instead headed for London instead of Spain. Upon reaching England, he was signed up into MERLIN, hoping that was earnings he could make would be enough to support his family and protect them from the ravages of war.

Grigorii is a man of immense fortitude, growing up in Russia he was put to work in the metal works, learning a keen sense of belonging and personal ethic. Carefully attached is his devout Jewish Faith, his constant belief that God has given him strength and power, are the primary reasons he had been as strong as he has in the face of the great attrocities of mankind, and more specifically Nazi Germany.

Mr. Green trodes down the road, pulling behind him the large caravan-long carriage that functions as Devon's mobile home/work station. As they pass farmlands, Devon observes the farmers and other common folk staring in abject horror or curiosity at the bulky and bizzare frame of Mr. Green as he kept marching along. In a mechanical voice through the mechanical automatons system, she calls out to them, "Do not fear, fine citizens. I am merely coming to do away with your problems. Go back to your work." Any who looked close enough would easily be able to identify, on Mr. Greens large right hand, the Hunters Signet Ring in plain and obvious view.

As Mr. Green pulls the carriage along into the town proper, he deftly keeps it reigned in and under control as he comes to a dead stop outside of the Black Apple Inn. Reaching up, Mr. Green removed his top-hat, and set it down in front of his chest, as the compartment opens up with the sound of screeching metal, and an extra plume of black smoke. Inside is revealed the figure of Devon. Slowly she climbs out, stepping onto the top-hat, and then down onto the ground. She reaches to a device on her forearm, and after tweaking some knobs and flipping a switch, the hatch closes back up.

Devon was the picture of innocence; if innocence toted a full assault rifle on it's back, with bandoleers of ammunition and explosives strapped to it's chest. Her dainty frame was dressed in very casual clothing, from her white blouse and dark brown vest, to her knee-length skirt. Her skin sparked of gold and iron rivets across her porcelain flesh, the solid gold iris's reflecting the sun in a truly peculiar fashion. Her hip was strapped with various mechanical tools, and a strange little tinkertoy fashioned like a spider sits on her left shoulder. On her left hand, on her ring finger, she wears the Hunter Signet Ring.

As she lifted off her goggles, revealed a soot-smudged face, she casts a look around. Her eyes come to rest on Delilah, and she seems to perk up even more so then before. Flipping a switch on her forearm gadget, Mr. Green puts his tophat back on, and the sound of clinking gears and the puffing steam all coming to a slow halt. Almost skipping, Devon finds herself next to Delilah with a giant smile on her face, "Delilah! It's been far to long, I was so please to find that they had placed us together for this duty." Her face is genuinely happy to see the other girl, as she reaches out to cross her right arm with Delilah's left.

How is this for a start on the background. He would wake up where ever you need hima and I would find out that there are Nazis here also and join the forces against them. The transportation could put him in any time and place you desire.

On January 1, 1957 Terry Smyth was born to Mr. and Mrs. John Smyth in New York City - a city in a different dimensional time line. This world was one where the Nazi's were in control of half the world and where the United States is a protectorate of the Imperial German Empire.

Early in his childhood, Terry watched as the Nazi Saucer Ships destroyed the city of Los Angeles in a fiery massacre. He also saw the release of the Nazi Cyber-hounds that patrolled the streets.

At the age of 15 he joined the Free States Marine Corps, formerly the United States Marine Corps, to fight in World War III. The Free States are comprised of the 41 Eastern and Central states that did not become German protectorates. He watched as the Free States were battered by the onslaught of enemy missiles, Nazi-saucer ships, mutated Cyber-Hounds and foot soldiers. If not for Captain America and other brave heroes, the Free States would have surely perished.

After the war was over in 1978 he had remembered the contributions that Captain America had made, and admiring his actions, he decided to search for these hidden bases. He found the location of Freedom Base #3and joined their Super-Soldier program. Joining their cause, he defended the Free States with the best of his abilities.

Early in the 1980's the free states started Project Cyborg, in hopes of creating more super soldiers. Having been a dedicated member of their group for years, they approached Terry with the idea of turning his body into a mechanized fighting machine. With no hesitation in mind he signed the consent forms.

Using advanced cybernetic designs combined with the Super-Soldier formula and "Vita-Ray" treatments, the scientists began to modify Terry's body into a Cyborg. This six month period was filled with innumerable operations and pain. From these trials emerged the strongest Cyborg yet. Terry was proud that he could be in the same category as the man he so admired, the famous Captain America. He was now a super soldier. He took the code name; Hardwire.

During the months of recovery and training after the bionic implants, he could not wait for his first mission and it came soon enough. He was charged with the task of finding the Overlord's American Based Camps. When he did, he had more trouble than he bargained for, because he discovered the newly formed group called " The Power League ".It's members were Blitzhawk, Panzerman, and Cybernaut. The battle that was fought nearly ended his life, but with pure luck he managed to punch a hole into the inexperienced team's defenses. With his mechanical reflexes and cybernetic augmented senses he escaped their grasp and returned to base.

After his recovery from the first mission, Hardwire quickly accepted another even more dangerous mission. That mission still continues today; to kill the Overlord and end this nightmarish terror that he has bred. He has made 14 attempts & has had 14 failures but each time he takes a bigger and better chunk of the Overlords tender underbelly. He has well deserved the 2 million imperial marks reward placed on his head.

On his last mission he led an Elite group of Cyber-Soldiers into Germany. His four member squad was comprised of Lady Steel, Litchpin, and Commando. They hit The Overlord with three deadly lasers but the cost was high as Litchpin and Commando fell. Hardwire and Lady-Steel escaped into the maze of sewers beneath Berlin. They were tracked by Cyber-Hounds and other monstrosities created by the Nazi scientists. Worse, they learned that The Overlord had survived the attack!!

Hardwire and Lady Steel survive three attacks by the Nazi forces but are running out of resources and places to hide. Hardwire contacts a member of the underground but is betrayed!!Lady Steel falls in a deadly ambush but Hardwire manages to escape back into the sewers. He tracks down the traitor and executes him. He discovers a Cyber-Hound base and manages to repair most of his systems. He also discovers documents that details a facility that is working on something called "Atomic Power". Hardwire attacks the facility and damages much of it before he is driven off. As he runs from the burning facility the night explodes as the experimental atomic reactor melts down. With a blinding flash, Hardwire feels himself picked up and swept away like a leaf in the wind.

When he awoke he found himself in a strange place …

Enter your campaign world and where it goes from here will be shaped by the feel of the campaign. Basically he would submit himself for interrogation and debriefing by United States military only. All others he would fight to the death. He is 100% devoted to the US and will do anything required of him. Where ever he can fight Nazis is fine by him.

Mildred Aprilton is an English aristocrat, the younger daughter of Lord Oswald Aprilton and Lady Doris Aprilton, born Doris Ascott. Family background draws from several roots from Burford, Oxfordshire, to Cairo. The Aprilton are the typical European noble house, with a

In December 1940, the Aprilton all fled the Blitz. Parents and girls found shelter in Chicago, while the two boys made their way to Cairo to secure the last family assets there. To the Aprilton siblings, Cairo is the city reminiscent to childhood, a time when A&A had joint ventures in the seaport town of Suez. The five brothers and sisters, spent many months each year there, living the prosperous life of miniature nobles. Lord Oswald Aprilton sold his most important Egyptian assets when Mildred was 16 but the family carried on with the tradition of frequent travels to the Nile Delta for nearly 5 years. During their last trip to Egypt, Oswald offered Mildred's hand to Wilhem Von Stauff, the son of his former Austrian associate in Cairo. Later on Europe fell into war...

Wilhem Von Stauff, enrolled in Field Marshal Rommel's Afrika Korps, did join the German army, which changed a lot of thing for the couple... but a promise is a promise, and such things are not taken lightly among the noble Aprilton: given Wilhem was a soldier but not a Nazi, that he was honorable and lawful, Lord Oswald Aprilton ruled that his daughter had to bear with the promise and wait and see the outcome of the war. Wilhem never stopped writing letters to his love... to which Mildred never replied since the declaration of war.

She never replies... but reads them all, then hides them and reads them again, although she'd better die than admit it. She was precisely reading a poem from Wilhem's hand when her "powers" first showed, during summer 1940. She was bathing in the sun, in the park, some pigeons around her and people walking by. Mildred suddenly glanced away from the letter of her hated love, and her sight crossed the flock of birds. She could not tell how but one "froze" in mid flight and fell to the ground like a stone. Mildred stood up and neared... only to discover it was actually stone. Again, she could not tell how, but she immediately understood she had made this happen. She shrieked, and ran away... but a woman doesn't run in the street like a common burglar! She was trying to vanish from people's sight but was in fact attracting all their attention. She stopped at the corner of the street, drew a deep respiration and decided to remain discrete and subtle in every similar circumstances... that she was rightly expecting to multiply.

Since then, Mildred has obeyed the rule and tamed her instinct. She knows that her gaze can petrify, much like a Gorgon's, and she blames Wilhem for it. Mildred believes it happened because of the impossible choices he made her face, because she feels secretly torn between opposite allegiances, because love became so similar to hatred because of him that she can no longer distinguish them, because his letters are always responsible for both her fool mood and joy and because he broke her heart, and never stops to cure it only to break it again. It is actually the word: Mildred thinks Wilhem literally broke her and that her petrifying gaze is the exterior signs that shows it.

In Chicago, Mildred heard about the MERLIN project because of the relations of his father: there was a dinner and the topic was whispered. She quickly came to Pr. Haskill to tell him said "powers" really symptomatic of "a deregulation or perturbation of one's inner feelings". What she was strongly believing in. But she later got involved in the study, and realized the truth might be more complex than that...

In any case she volunteered for the investigation in London, if only because of her proficiency with the land.

Ok, I finally managed to get the Idea I had down. Basically Alicia can use electrical energy for a veriety of effects, like energy bolts, defensive field of force. Her body also uses the energy to supercharge her regenerative abilities aka Regeneration. But if she doesn't disipate her excess energy in a timely manner, it hurts her, and potentiall can result in her exploding and taking a few blocks with her.

Alicia Silvers was always an inquisitive youth, wanting to know how everything worked. She idealized women scientists like Marie Curie, the 1903 Nobel Prize winner for physics, and Lise Meitner who worked with Otto Hahn on the equation which first gave a glimmer that the splitting of the atom nucleus was workable. So it was no surprise that she studied physics. It didn't take her long to discover that the scientific community was very resistant to women scientists, with a few notable exceptions, and she was more often than not relegated to lab assistant, and not the chief research role.

During the late 1920’s she was introduced to Dr. Thomas Henry Moray and became very interested in his work. She eventually convinced him to allow her on his research staff. In 1937, during an experiment with his Radiant Energy Device, there was a lab accident resulting in Alicia being exposed to a significant level of the cosmic energy flowing through the

The Moray Valve, housed in the Moray Radiant Energy device, was a device created by Thomas Henry Moray, patent filed July 13, 1931. It consisted of a mixture of triboluminescent zinc, a semiconductor material, and a radioactive or fissile material formed in a rounded pellet inside a tube. Energy was produced by capturing zero point energy and converting it into electricity. The device was able to produce up to 50,000 watts for sustained periods of time in tests witnessed with signed statements by physicists, electrical engineers, and scientists.

Morey Valve. The investigation behind the accident revealed that Dr. Morey's team had been infiltrated by two

In the real history it was soviet spies but then again there wasn’t an explosion, Morey was shot in his lab.

German spies, and Morey was convinced that they had caused the accident in an attempt to steal his invention, despite the unexplained two day blackout that followed.

Alicia was hospitalized with sever burns and apparent damage to her nervous system. Over the course of her rehabilitation she began to notice odd occurrences such as; random electrical discharges, light bulbs suddenly flashing bright and exploding, etc.. Dr. Morey found that her system had become infused with significant quantities of his

The material he found in Sweden that he used in his valve.

Swedish Stone. He concluded that this was somehow allowing her to subconsciously tap into the same energy as his device, and without an alternate hypothesis Alicia took this to be the case.

Her body’s access to this apparently endless supply of energy had the secondary effect of supercharging her immune system and recuperative abilities. But she apparently could not “shut it off” once healed her body continued to metabolize the energy and store it. She learned that unless she found a release for the excess energy, her internal storage capacity would grow to dangerous levels, so unless she uses the energy her body is storing it begins to cause her immense pain.

Following the accident Dr. Morey became more and more paranoid and reclusive. He believed that he was being hounded from all corners, so much so he began to see spies everywhere. Eventually he let his research staff go, so Alicia was out of work. Unbeknownst to her she had made somewhat of a name for herself in the scientific community and was almost immediately contacted by Dr. Haskill who was forming a team to investigate the sudden appearance of “Paragons”. He invited her to join his staff, and considering her situation as a so-called paragon she accepted.

Alicia is generally reserved in public, preferring not to be noticed, which is rather had considering her obvious beauty. She acts very much the proper lady when in others company. She, in a lot of ways, could be considered old fashioned. The one sure way to draw her out of her normally reserved shell is to begin talking about physics.

As Alicia entered the room she noticed that several of the gentleman seemed to be staring at her, especially the younger men. As usual it made her slightly uncomfortable. Even with her auburn hair done up in a bun and wearing her glasses, it was hard not to notice her beauty. She was there looking for the professor and was defiantly out of place at the dinner party wearing her lab coat.

She saw the professor across the room and as she approached him she began “Professor Stein, I apologize for interrupting you at this hour but you wanted to know when the test results were in.” The older man looked at her as she spoke and with a smile replied “Oh nonsense Alicia I always have time for you!”. Then he added “Although I really think you should be relaxing, taking some time for yourself, but since you’re here lets see what you have for me”

Excusing himself from his company he lead Alicia to a room he used as his home office. “So what do you have to show me?” Alicia handed Professor Stein the chart showing the results of their experiment, she knew he would be disappointed with what it showed. After examining the documents for a moment he said “Damn! I thought sure the addition of the aluminum-oxidate would stabilize the reaction. Well I suppose you know what this means, we’ll have to start over Monday.”

Alicia knew that this was the third time they had to scratch the process and start over, and that it meant another couple months delay. She began to offer her suggestions on how to proceed when she was cut off by a quick pain in her left hand. Oh no not now, why now, she thought, I don’t have time for this!. She knew this feeling all to well, her energy stores had built up to far she needed to leave right now. “I’m sorry professor, but I just recalled I had an engagement this evening and I am very late, could we discuss this further Monday, after all I’ve kept you from your guests far to long!” Not waiting for a response she started to stand. ”Of course my dear, now you run along and enjoy yourself, there will be plenty of time to salvage this mess later.”

One of Aaron's primary school teachers once described him by quoting the Bard: "Yon Aaron has a lean and hungry look, he thinks too much. Such men are dangerous." The quote flew leagues above the head of the young Mr. Lancer, but he rather liked being described as dangerous, and it was a fitting enough description. Aaron is rail thin, even the muscle he put on after joining the army was lean whipcord muscle that did little to fill out his short frame. His features are angular and severe, his nose is large and hooked, his chin is pointed, his eyes are sunken in their orbits, and his cheekbones pronounced above concave cheeks. All these features conspire to form a rat-like countenance, except his eyes, his very green eyes. His eyes are sharp and quick: predatory eyes. He wears his medium brown hair slicked back with pomade. The left breast pocket of his M-1941 Herrinbone Twill uniform jacket always sports the boxy protuberance of a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes. He speaks with a slightly nasal sounding New York Accent

The youngest of 7 children Aaron has never been the biggest or the strongest, and had to learn to rely on cunning to get his needs met. Scrappy might be a good word to describe Aaron, but so might discerning. He picks his battles carefully, but once he commits he fights with dogged determination to achieve his goals. Aaron has a definite liking for the ladies, and spends much of his free time chasing skirt.

In December 1917 after being wounded in combat during The Great War, Aaron's father returned home to New York and used his injury dispensation award to buy a 25'x100' lot in the North Bronx for $25 and bought an old suprlus army Barracks for another $25 to put on the land, and married the girl next door. In the years that followed Mark and Klera

In the biblical sense of being blessed with many children, not so much in the more modern monetary connotation

went forth and were fruitful. The twins, Joey and Marky, were born in September of 1918, followed quickly thereafter by the couple's first daughter Anise, then came the other twins Emmalina and Viveka, then Ricky and finally Aaron, the baby of the family. Things were never exacly easy for the Lancer family, but I suppose you could say they were comfortably hard. Aaron's father worked as a cabinet maker, and when their was work you could trust Mark Lancer to put some of it away for tomorrow, even if it meant scrimping and saving, and perhaps even suffering today. There wasn't always a lot of food but generally everyone got to eat. In his childhood Aaron was left mostly to himself, and he was a street kid from the start, whiling away his time in thouroghfares and alley's of his North Bronx neighborhood.

As a boy Aaron had a short temper and was prone to fighting, especially with neighborhood boy's who were bigger than he was, which was pretty much everybody. More than once it was only the intervention of his older brother Joey that kept Aaron out of the hospital. Of all his siblings Joey was the one Aaron most admired and wanted to emulate, a fact his mother would often scold him over "Why can't you be more like your brother Marky, he's such a good boy, he gets such great marks in school..." Marky may have been smart, buy Joey, Joey had guile. The kids in the neighborhood naturally seemed to gravitate to Joey, and he was a good guy to have around. When trouble started, and it often did, Joey was able to talk his way out more often than not, but on the flip side, when it came time to lay somebody out Joey had a mean right cross he wasn't afraid to use. By the time they were teens Joey's gathered around him his own little street gang, with Aaron right at his side the whole time. Unfortunately, Joey got himself in some hot water with the law, and rather than face the music he elected to run away and join the Army. His hero worship of his brother is the principal reason Aaron volunteered for services as soon as he was of age in 1939, dispite his father's protests.

In the Army Aaron proved to be an adaquet and average soldier. He especially had difficulty with his marksmanship, having to retake the basic rifleman's qualification twice. He was assigned to Able Company, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry division. With tensions heating up in Europe many of the top brass in the US miltary believed US involvement in the conflict was inevitable, and the army redoubled its efforts to train a powerful, mobile, modern military. To this end Aaron's unit was re-assigned Sabine Parish, Louisiana to participate in the Louisiana Manuevers, the largest field excersize ever conducted by the army involving hundreds of thousands of men.

Late one rainy August night, Aaron was soaked to the bone in full combat dress with a full pack riding down Riverside Road in the back of an M-35 Deuce and a Half, when the driver took a bad bump, lost control of the vehicle and overturned it, spilling the soldiers in the back right into the Red River. At first everything was happening so fast. Aaron remembers hearing a scream and then hitting the water and trying to flail his way to the safety of the shore. That's when everything seemed to slow down, and Aaron aquirred some kind of universal awareness. He could sense everything that was going on around him, distinct and slow as though each thing were happening independently of the others without overpowering one another or blending together. He could make out each individual tread on the spinning tires of the overturned truck, he could see that the driver lost control after swerving to avoid a crate in the middle of the road, and what's more he could read the very small label on the crate even while failing about in the river, he could make out the excrutiating detail on the faces of each of his companions. What's more he could hear everything, in crystal clear detail. It was all coming through

Military Radio terminology for maximum signal fidelity, i.e. loud and clear

5x5 He could hear the screams of his companions, the sounds of the churning river, the thrum of the still running truck engine, the footfalls of a groundsquirell on the branch of a tree overhead, he could hear it all with absolute clarity. Eventually Aaron was able to get out of his pack and make it to shore along with a few other members of his squad, but many others drown.

As he started to calm down he attributed his unusual experience to nerves and the shock of the accident. He tried to put it behind him and go about his life as if nothing had happened. But somthing most assuredly had changed. Then next moring when Captain Francis stepped away from the unit with 1st Lt. Smith for a come to jesus dressing down about the last night's accident, Aaron could hear every word, despite the fact that they were perhaps 100 yards away. Aaron looked to the soldier next to him and asked "Why's the Captain talkin' so loud?" to which the other soldier responded "What are you talking about, I can't hear a word." Later that same day on the firing range, Aaron shot a perfect round, despite having always been a mediocre rifleman in previous trials. When the rangemaster asked him to do it again, Aaron complied with another perfect target. The rangemaster moved the target back, but Aaron delivered another perfect round. Twice more they moved the target back, Aaron delivered two more perfect rounds. The rangemaster was baffled, he called 1st Lt. Smith over and explained the situation, to which the Lt responed "What's gotten into you today soldier, where was this kind of shooting months ago in basic?"

Aaron answered "I don't know Sir, I just see where I want the bullet to go, and then I put it there."

The Liuetenant, who had been briefed about the ongoing appearance of paranormal individuals, and had like all officer's been asked to watch his men for anything unusual asked. "Tell me private, have you noticed anything else out of the ordinary recently?"

What followed was a week filled with meetings of increasing importance and increasing secrecy, many of which involved Aaron only answering a few questions, then standing in the hall while the meetings attendees talked about what to do with him. Of course Aaron could hear everything they were saying through the wall effortlessly. It seems the military is funding a "MERLIN" project, with a Professor Haskill in Chicago. It also seems the military doesn't totally trust the good professor and need someone to keep an eye, and an ear, out for trouble. The brass never did say why they didn't trust Dr. Haskill, only making cryptic and unexplained references to "The Seattle incident" and "that time in New Mexico." Ultimately Aaron was transferred to the project with a directive to work with Professor Haskill, so long as his orders didn't countermand the American military agenda, and report back on everything he saw or heard, that might hint at treachery.

Aaron wasn't excited about leaving his unit, but orders are orders. Months later when the Japanese attacked, and our country declared war on the axis powers, Aaron's animosity towards his assignment increased, believing it wrong for him to sit in Chicago while his comrades and his

Joey is still enlisted in the Army, and Ricky has recently been drafted into the Marines. Mark on the other hand is now an engineer at the NYC Shipyards, where he's gotten all of the Lancer sisters jobs on the assembly floor.

brothers prepared to fight. He has twice petitioned to be reassiged to his former unit which is now preparing for the amphibious invasion of North Africa, and both times been summarily denied.